Nuggets stock watch: 2 intriguing risers, and 1 disappointing faller

As the NBA regular season winds to a close and the playoffs approach, this is a good time to reflect and take inventory of a team. Every player had expectations coming into the season and it’s a worthwhile exercise to see how they are performing in relation to those expectations.

The Nuggets are lucky, as they are one of the most stable and reliable teams in the league. It’s hard to say anyone on the roster has vastly outperformed their expectations this season. That’s no knock on any of the players, it’s mostly a matter of how high the bar has been set by the defending champions.

The world is expected of players like Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon, and for the most part, those guys have delivered. The only reason Jokic’s stock isn’t up is because it had already reached maximum levels. We knew before the season that he was the best player in the league and he has backed that up, as he hones in on his third MVP award.

Conversely, nobody on the team has grossly underperformed either. Expectations were very reasonable and realistic across the board, and as a team, the Nuggets have delivered about what was expected.

But that’s not to say certain players haven’t done better or worse than others, and players with similar expectations coming into this season have separated somewhat from each other. Let’s take a look at 2 players who have seen their stock go up and 1 whose stock has taken a dip.